Stephen J. Lippard
Encyclopedia
Stephen J. Lippard is an American bioinorganic chemist
and the Arthur Amos Noyes
Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
.
in 1962. He earned the Ph.D. from MIT in 1965 under the direction of F. Albert Cotton
before joining the faculty of Columbia University
in 1966 as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 1969 and full Professor in 1972. In 1983, Lippard returned to MIT as a Professor of Chemistry. He served as the head of the MIT chemistry department from 1995 to 2005.
Lippard has co-authored 750 scholarly and professional articles, edited several books, and co-authored the textbook Principles of Bioinorganic Chemistry with Jeremy Berg. He currently serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society
. He previously edited the book series Progress in Inorganic Chemistry from Volume 11 to 40 and was an Associate Editor of the journal Inorganic Chemistry. Lippard serves or has served on the editorial boards of numerous other journals.
, the National Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
. He is an honorary member of the Irish Royal Society and the Italian Chemical Society and is an external scientific member of the Max-Planck Institute in Germany. He has received honorary Doctorate of Science degrees from Haverford College
, Texas A&M University
, and the University of South Carolina
.
Lippard has received many awards throughout his career, most notably the National Medal of Science
. He is also the recipient of the Linus Pauling
Medal, Theodore W. Richards Medal, and William H. Nichols
Medal. For his work in bioinorganic and biomimetic chemistry, Lippard received the Ronald Breslow
Award and the Alfred Bader
Award from the American Chemical Society
(ACS). For research in inorganic and organometallic chemistry, as well as his role as an educator (over 100 Ph. D. students), he was honored with ACS awards for Inorganic Chemistry and for Distinguished Service in Inorganic Chemistry. In addition, he's been in the "hot-spot" to win the Noble Prize in the next 3 years.
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
and the Arthur Amos Noyes
Arthur Amos Noyes
Arthur Amos Noyes was a U.S. chemist and educator. He served as the acting president of MIT between 1907 and 1909. He received a PhD. in 1890 at Leipzig under the guidance of Wilhelm Ostwald. Roscoe Gilkey Dickinson was one of his famous students. Noyes served as Professor of Chemistry at the...
Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
.
Career
Lippard was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and received his bachelor's degree from Haverford CollegeHaverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
in 1962. He earned the Ph.D. from MIT in 1965 under the direction of F. Albert Cotton
F. Albert Cotton
Frank Albert Cotton was the W.T. Doherty-Welch Foundation Chair and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University. He authored over 1700 scientific articles. Cotton was recognized for his research on the chemistry of the transition metals.-Education:Frank Albert Cotton was born on...
before joining the faculty of Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1966 as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 1969 and full Professor in 1972. In 1983, Lippard returned to MIT as a Professor of Chemistry. He served as the head of the MIT chemistry department from 1995 to 2005.
Lippard has co-authored 750 scholarly and professional articles, edited several books, and co-authored the textbook Principles of Bioinorganic Chemistry with Jeremy Berg. He currently serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society
Journal of the American Chemical Society
The Journal of the American Chemical Society is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1879 by the American Chemical Society. The journal has absorbed two other publications in its history, the Journal of Analytical and Applied Chemistry and the American Chemical Journal...
. He previously edited the book series Progress in Inorganic Chemistry from Volume 11 to 40 and was an Associate Editor of the journal Inorganic Chemistry. Lippard serves or has served on the editorial boards of numerous other journals.
Teaching
Lippard has taught a number of classes at MIT. This coming semester, Lippard will be teaching 5.112 Principles to Chemical Science, an introductory chemistry course for the incoming freshmen. This class is said to be the most difficult Intro Chem class in the country.Research interests
Lippard's research activities are at the interface of inorganic chemistry and biology. A major focus of his activities is to understand and improve anticancer drugs in the cisplatin family. He also studies enzymes that consume greenhouse gas hydrocarbons like methane and devises optical and MRI sensors to study brain function.Notable Contributions
Lippard’s laboratory discovered and named the first metallointercalators, platinum terpyridine complexes that insert between the DNA base pairs and unwind the double helix. This work led to experiments defining how platinum drugs bind their biological targets and insights into how they manifest their anticancer activity.Honors and awards
Lippard has been elected to the National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, the National Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
. He is an honorary member of the Irish Royal Society and the Italian Chemical Society and is an external scientific member of the Max-Planck Institute in Germany. He has received honorary Doctorate of Science degrees from Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
, Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
, and the University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
.
Lippard has received many awards throughout his career, most notably the National Medal of Science
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
. He is also the recipient of the Linus Pauling
Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century...
Medal, Theodore W. Richards Medal, and William H. Nichols
William H. Nichols
William Henry Nichols was a famous chemist and businessman who was instrumental in building the chemical supply business in the U.S. The specialty materials business of Honeywell traces its roots back a small sulfuric acid company he started in 1870. Nichols was one of the original founders of the...
Medal. For his work in bioinorganic and biomimetic chemistry, Lippard received the Ronald Breslow
Ronald Breslow
Ronald C. D. Breslow is an American chemist from Rahway, New Jersey. He is currently University Professor at Columbia University, where he is based in the Department of Chemistry and affiliated with the Departments of Biological Sciences and Pharmacology; he has also been on the faculty of its...
Award and the Alfred Bader
Alfred Bader
Alfred Bader CBE is a Canadian chemist, businessman and collector of fine art.-Early years:Bader's father's family was of Czech Jewish descent; his mother was a Catholic Hungarian aristocrat. He fled from Austria to England in 1938 to escape Nazi persecution...
Award from the American Chemical Society
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
(ACS). For research in inorganic and organometallic chemistry, as well as his role as an educator (over 100 Ph. D. students), he was honored with ACS awards for Inorganic Chemistry and for Distinguished Service in Inorganic Chemistry. In addition, he's been in the "hot-spot" to win the Noble Prize in the next 3 years.